Carpet-stretcher



NoModel.)

' N. A. VELINE.

CARPET STRETGHER. No; 291,555. Patented Jan. 1884.

JNVE/VTOR W MM N. PETERS. PhnwLilho m nu. Wzshingiwn. ac.

tached View of the lever used to rotate such spectively, with the shanksE integral there- C, so that when such rollers are passed through Fig. 2is a detached view of a section of the NITED STATES Aren't @FFICE.

NELS AUGUST VELINE, OF VILLISGA, IOWA.

CARPET-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,555, dated January8, 1884.

Application filed November 12, 1883. (No model made short, so as toreadily pass with the ear 2b rtZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Nurs AUGUST VELINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vil lisca, in the county of'Montgomery and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oarpet-Stretchers;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, ref erence beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has reference to certain improvements in stretching andholding in place carpets; and it consists, essentially, in placingpermanent rollers on the floor around the margin of the room, suchrollers being provided with teeth or short hooks. to engage and hold thecarpet, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the carpet as held instretch by my invention. a

roller and its ratchet-wheel. Fig. 3 is a deroller. Fig. 4 is asectional end View of the roller, showing the hook in place and theconformation of its shank.

A is the carpet in stretch.

B B B B are the walls of the room.

0 C G O are the rollers in position, such rollers being made withhalf-round, oval, or square sides, or some shape other than round.

D D are the hooks, which are formed, re-

with. The opening E in the shanks E is made to conform to the lateralshape of the rollers such shanks the hooks, although attached to thecarpet, shall be free to move laterally on such rollers, so as to permitthe carpet to be stretched in atransverse direction. By reason of thesides of the rollers having an irregular shape and the shanks Econforming thereto in the rotation of the rollers G, the hooks D arerotated therewith; but the latter are free to move in the line of therollers C, so as to prevent the wrinkling of the carpet when the latteris drawn at right angles to such roller, in order to stretch the carpetin a cross or transverse direction in the room. The hooks D are petoutwardly under the roller 0 and next the floor. The rollers O are heldin position by being journaled at suitable intervals in the bearings H,which latter encircle the rollers G at their front end, and at theirrear end are provided with a shank, by means of which latter thebearings H are suitably attached to the wall of the room sufficientlyabove the floor to permit the passage under the bearings of the carpetA. The journaling of the rollers O countersinks the bearings H below thegeneral surface of such rollers, so as to leave the surface of suchrollers uniform. Each roller is provided at one end with aratchet-wheel, L, rigidly affixed thereto for the purpose of rotation,anda pawl, a, fastened to the wall, which engages such ratchet-wheel andholds the roller from reverse rotation. A detachable lever, M, fitted toengage and actuate the ratchet- Wheel L, is. used to rotate the rollersU, as desired. It may be necessary to place the rollers G on but twosides of the room at right angles to each other, the carpet being firsttacked on the two opposite sides, in which case the rollers should beplaced on those sides of the room in which there are no doors; but therollers may be placed on all sides of the room, the carpet being tackedat the dooropenings after it is stretched by the rollers. The rollerscan be made of small diameter and placed out of sight under the bottomor behind the base-board, a small opening being left at the corner ofthe room or other obscure point for the insertion of the end of thelever M. As the carpet stretches with use, the roll ers can betightened, and thus the carpet kept smooth and tight at all times.

The mode of operation is very simple. The carpet is attached to thehooks D on both sides of the room and gradually tightened bysuccessively or simultaneously rotating all of the rollers G by means ofthe lever M. The edges of the carpet are concealed under the baseboard,which makes a neat and very pleasing appearance.

By releasing the pawl a, the rollers G can be rotated backward and thecarpet readily unhooked and taken up when desired. 7

The hooks D should be of sufficient number and frequency to properlystretch the carpet without tearing or injuring it.

The advantages of my invention are, first, the convenience of layingdown and taking up the carpet; second, the means afforded forrestretching the carpet at any time without taking it up; third, a moreuniform stretching than is possible where the carpet is directlyfastened to the floor upon all sides; fourth, a simultaneous stretchingof the entire carpet before any of it is fastened permanently, asdistinguished from a partial stretching in a succession'of efforts atdifferent points; and, fifth, the neat appearance attained by concealingthe edges or margin of the carpet.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States,

1. The rollers G, provided with hooks D and [ratchet-wheel L, andsuitably journaled in bearings H, substantially as shown, and for thepurpose described.

2. The combination of the rollers O, provided with ratchet-wheel L, thehooks D, and bearings H, substantially as shown, and for the purposespecified.

3. The combination of the rollers 0, provided with the ratchet-wheel L,the hooks D, bearings H, and lever M. substantially as shown, and forthe purpose mentioned.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NELS AUGUST VELINE.

Witnesses:

I F. L. INGMAN, W. L. Evns.

